Schodorf reveals proposed voting changes

Jean Schodorf holds a voter registration form during a news conference at the Kansas Statehouse.

Credit Stephen Koranda / KPR

Jean Schodorf says Kansans with voter registrations that are on hold should be allowed to cast ballots until there’s actual suspicion of voter fraud according to a story from KPR.

Schodorf is the Democratic candidate running for secretary of state.

She originally voted for the law requiring proof-of-citizenship documentation when serving in the Kansas Senate, but now says the law has not worked as promised and is disenfranchising to eligible voters.

Republican Secretary of State Kris Kobach supports the law and says it helps prevent voter fraud.

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Schodorf stopped by the High Plains Public Radio studios on March 19, 2014. She talked about her change in parties, position on voter registration requirements, what she will do if elected, and why voters should choose her. Listen to the conversation with Cindee Talley.

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Court action over the state’s proof-of-citizenship voting law is pending, but Secretary of State Kris Kobach is not waiting for a ruling. He’s laying groundwork for a system that would allow some voters to vote in all elections, while others could only vote for Congressional and presidential tickets according to a recent article in The Wichita Eagle.

The office of state secretary is usually a quiet position, operating under the theory that no publicity is good. Kansas secretary of state Kris Kobach has turned that philosophy on its ear. Kobach is the outspoken lightning rod that has worked to reform voter registration in Kansas, and helped Arizona and Alabama write laws to crack down on illegal immigration reported Brad Cooper for the Kansas City Star. That’s gotten him national attention.

Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach recently said comparing voter registration applications against Kansas birth certificates reduced the backlog of registrants whose voting rights are on hold because they don’t meet the new proof of citizenship requirement according to the Wichita Eagle.